Right Place, Right Time.

[CanariesSoccer]

First things first - Excellent result yesterday, performance wasn't top notch but we did what was required.

Now, on to business:

Is it fair to say our rise from NPC newbies to 9th in the EPL has been as much about timing and good fortune, than hard work and clever tactics?

I put before you the argument that so far we have caught everything at the right time, arriving in The NPC as Newcastle and West Brom departed, leaving a largely mediocre selection of well-meaning but ineffective clubs. Our momentum after demolishing League One was exactly what was required to see us make good progress up the table, winning against clubs who have been languishing in the second tier for years, with little or no impetus to really get stuck in. I refer to clubs such as Coventry and Ipswich (no disrespect).

This presented us with an opportunity which we grasped with both hands, promotion was achieved without having (necessarily) the best players, outside financing, or an experienced boss. We won promotion when in reality, at the start of the season we had no right.

Fast forward to today, we currently sit 9th in the EPL, a massive achievement by anyone's standards, and things are looking good with regards to staying up. We are not kidding ourselves, and certainly don't expect to finish in 9th, BUT...(and its quite a big but)... we have yet again been blessed with good fortune insofar as there are a whole host of poor teams. Look no further than Wigan, Blackburn, Bolton or Wolves; these are teams who will almost certainly make up 4 of the bottom 6, with potentially a few of the early pace setters (ourselves not necessarily excluded) likely to slip down and get embroiled in the relegation fight.

I am in no way implying that we don't deserve to be where we are, but I can't help but feel that the whole time, there's been a large element of "right place, right time" involved.

 

[Resurgam]

Very good post CS

 

[chinacanary]

Well, you make your own luck and all that! I agree with you PC to a degree, but without the true grit and determination that PL has imbued into the blood of our players, we would not be where we are today. Good post.

 

[canary-dave]

This reminds me of RSA golfer Gary Player! Someone once called his shot lucky, GP's response was, The more I practise, the luckier I get!"

So, yes, you're right, but with PL instilling the confidence needed, they make their own luck, as stated above by 'me old China'

 

[Cruyff's Turn]

When I read the title I thought it was another Grant Holt thread.

 

[SUPERNORWICH 23]

If we were crap and getting rolled over every week, then other teams would consider themselves lucky too

 

[redruthyella]

You can only live in the moment and at this moment we are the 9th best team in the Prem. Are the other teams poor or are we just better than them, at the moment?
Of course we are better than them, we've scored more, conceded less and have more points. When they kicked the season off, they thought they were better than us. And, at the moment, that was poor judgement by them and fair play to us.
The best fortune was Delia hiring McInally and Lambert.

 

[Cruyff's Turn]

And Bryan Gunn buying Holt for 400 grand.

 

[Superman wears Grant Holt pyjamas in bed]

i've said it before and i'll say it again: paul lambert is a lucky manager. you get them sometimes; things just go for them. it often goes for him. i'm happy to go along with him for the lucky ride to success!

 

[Cruyff's Turn]

I don't buy it.Luck evens out over a period of time.Those two Holt goals (Liverpool QPR) he knew where the ball was going to go and went there.In both cases the covering defenders did not.It's positional sense.Others wait for the ball to come to them Holt seems to know where it's heading and goes to the ball.Totally intuitive.

 

[goldeneadie]

I don't buy it.Luck evens out over a period of time.Those two Holt goals (Liverpool QPR) he knew where the ball was going to go and went there.In both cases the covering defenders did not.It's positional sense.Others wait for the ball to come to them Holt seems to know where it's heading and goes to the ball.Totally intuitive.

.......... i agree about players waiting for the ball, or even worse, backing away and getting intercepted. i assume they back off to give them a second or so more time to assess options for when they have the ball only to look very stupid when the opposition steals in and takes possession.

 

[Ninj]

Right place right time= Grant Holt. a good striker who will anticpate where the ball is going to go work to get in the best place.
Paul Lambert a lucky manager??- Nope, you make your own luck in this world through hard work.

I had this down as a score draw all the way (even though Carrow Road has never brought QPR much luck in the past).

Well done for Saturday, looking forward to the return.

 

[Northamptonncfc]

I think a lot of it is down to the teams work ethic there has been some games we've not been our usual selves, but in recent games we've been fighting till the death we've always done that under Lambert we pressure the opposition, we attack aggressively, this can only be down to the teams drive and having the fitness to push onwards even as a player when your exhausted and feel like giving up.

Lambert is the type of manager who installs confidence in the players, you'll never see him get on their backs in public or slagging them down in the media, in return they have the self belief that we can achieve great things and lasting out games at home playing for a draw isn't acceptable or at 3-1 down closing up shop and defending for damage limitations sake. It's down to basic psychology.

 

[robbieBB]

With due respect to PC, seems to me that "right place, right time" is in most cases entirely vacuous as an explanation of anything. Yes, the moment may be auspicious, but it has to be seized! You could replicate PC's argument to "explain" Tottenham's emergence from the doldrums of mid-table obscurity under Levy & Rednapp. It has coincided with the upheavals at Chelsea, rebuilding at Arsenal and Liverpool, a faltering Man Utd, moneyless Everton, and so on. But does that mean that Spurs are not a better team than they were five years ago when languishing in mid-table mediocrity. No it doesn't. And isn't their rise actually due to their quality on and off the field, not just the happy accident of faltering rivals? I don't buy it PC!